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New Scientist Live

Fortified gas marbles are 10 times stronger than regular bubbles

IT’S a bubble, but better. Tough bubbles called gas marbles have been made for the first time. They are 10 times stronger than regular soap bubbles – a trait that could lead to stronger foams and better drug delivery.

Yousra Timounay at Syracuse University in New York made these fortified, stable droplets by trapping a small amount of gas in a single layer of particles set in a liquid film like soap. Unlike soap bubbles, gas marbles can hold their shape even under a pressure differential between the air inside and outside them. They also resist inflation and deformation.

With enough pressure, gas marbles can rupture and collapse. But they can withstand both positive and negative pressures far more than regular bubbles or liquid marbles, a similar concept in which liquid drops are trapped in a particle layer (Physical Review Letters, doi.org/b8d7).

Because gas marbles can be stacked without losing their shape, they could be used to make lighter, stronger foams for cosmetics or insulation. They could also deliver drugs through the lungs, or hold gases used as tracers to study air or water flows.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Gas marbles are the strongest bubbles”